Access to library resources through portable devices: A pre-design prototype for creating library websites

The term Mobile Communication Technology has greatly influenced a number of initiatives in the academic and learning environments, especially in the institutions of higher learning. The internet explosion, proliferation of online resources and the advent of free and open access resources provided the much needed impetus for libraries to inject new energy into providing quality service delivery of its services. The continuous advancements in the mobile communication paradigm, the shifting focus of users towards accepting mobile internet as the primary source of access to information has once again shifted the attention of libraries to provide mobile related services to their users. More and more applications and databases are being provided to the libraries as mobile products. This paper focuses on the overall impact of mobile related services and applications in libraries and looks specifically on the mobile library websites. Library websites are considered to be the face of any library. Most of the library services are offered through library websites. For any Library which wants to provide a better interface for their mobile users are forced to rethink about their websites to see whether it is compatible with the multitude of mobile gadgets. This paper looks at the best practices in creating such mobile library websites along with a prototype of how such websites can be created using a simple start to finish suggestions. The important impetus of this paper comes from an overall experience in creating such a websites for different university libraries, from the inception of the concept to the end.